Games Workshop put out two very different updates here. So, one is a hard rules preview for a notoriously stubborn 40K army.
Meanwhile, the other is a roster and army-building clarification for Cities of Sigmar players. Taken together, they show two useful sides of modern Warhammer support. One pushes new playstyles forward, while the other tries to ease an awkward transition without cutting older collections loose.
Rotting engines, fly-shrouded assaults, and plague-spreading champions give the Death Guard more ways to bully the table
The Death Guard faction focus is the heavier of the two pieces, and it does a strong job showing that the army is no longer just “slow infantry plus disgustingly resilient vibes.”
First, Contagion Engines gives several daemon-tainted vehicles, including Foetid Bloat-drones, Helbrutes, and Myphitic Blight-haulers, the CONTAGION ENGINE keyword and hands their ranged weapons Assault, which is a huge quality-of-life boost for an army that normally lumbers into position.
Moreover, the piece highlights Parasitic Woe-reaper, which lets one model in a Contagion Engine unit heal D3 wounds after fighting, and Bloodrust Deluge, which can Afflict a target for a shooting attack and combine especially well with Helbrutes already wounding Afflicted enemies more easily.
Then the focus shifts to Flyblown Host, and honestly this is the most interesting detachment of the lot.
Up to two Plague Marine units gain Infiltrators during deployment, Insectile Murmuration lets those units re-roll wound rolls of 1 against enemies within Contagion Range of a friendly unit, and Eye of the Swarm gives their ranged attacks Close-Quarters, which is the renamed Pistol rule and lets them shoot while locked in melee.
So, the detachment feels less like a gimmick and more like a proper rotten mid-board assault package.
![Slide on close-quarters weapons and shooting options, with the [CLOSE-QUARTERS] header and bullet points about attack choices.](https://frontlinegaming.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/image-355.png "image Frontline Gaming")
Finally, Paragons of Putrescence boosts all Death Guard Characters by adding 3 inches to their Contagion Range, up to 12, then layers on tricks.
For example, Host of the Hybridised Pox, which can add another plague effect once per battle, and Aggravus Spasms, which increases an enemy unit’s detection range by 6 inches if it is visible and within Contagion Range.
As a result, the whole preview sells three linked Death Guard fantasies at once: corrupted vehicles grinding forward, Plague Marines appearing far too close, and plague champions turning the table into one giant infection zone.
Cities of Sigmar preserve older aelves and duardin for now while rewarding new mixed-arms formations
The Cities of Sigmar article is much shorter, but it is quietly important. First, Games Workshop confirms that the new battletome does not include every older option from previous Cities rosters. However, it also says a free battletome supplement is coming, and that supplement will cover many of the older aelven and duardin units, plus some human choices such as Steam Tanks, Battlemages on Griffons, and Flagellants.
Just as importantly, that supplement will remain fully legal for the duration of the next General’s Handbook, which is due next month, before those units move to Legends after roughly a year. So, this is not a permanent save, but it is a meaningful grace period for existing collectors. Meanwhile, the article makes clear that the battletome still has a new in-faction route for bringing non-human allies into the army. A fresh Army of Renown allows Lumineth and Fyreslayers to fight alongside Sigmarite troops, and its Forces of Order passive specifically rewards a true mixed formation. If three friendly Allies of the Free Cities units stay wholly within 12 inches of each other, with one Aelf, one Duardin, and one Sigmarite unit among them, those units gain Ward (5+) against shooting attacks, +3 control score, and +1 to wound in combat.
That is a very chunky reward, and it strongly suggests the new design goal is not simply “humans only.” Instead, it is a more structured combined-arms alliance where your mixed heritage army actually functions better for standing shoulder to shoulder.
